Generally, a robotic cleaner automatically runs around one or more rooms to perform cleaning operations. Because it runs inside of a building, an automatic robot cleaner must be electrically powered and the preferred source of electrical energy is a rechargeable battery mounted in the robotic cleaner by which the robotic cleaner can be operated cordlessly. While performing the automatic running and cleaning operation, the robot cleaner determines whether it needs its battery recharged, usually checking the level of the remaining power of the battery through, for example, the measurement of voltage from the battery, and if determining so, the robot cleaner returns to the station, for example, at the corner of the room where the power recharger 20 is positioned. Therefore, the battery in the robot cleaner can be recharged automatically.
As shown in FIG. 1, most rooms have a molding known as a “baseboard” 1 that is attached around the lower part of a room's walls. As the power recharger 20 of the robot cleaner 10 is usually stationed at the corner of the room, there usually occurs a gap 2 between the power recharger 20 and the walls 3. When a robotic cleaner 10 needs recharging and runs itself to the recharger 20, the robot cleaner's 10 contact with the charger terminals 22 can jostle the recharger unit 20 by the force transmitted by the robot cleaner 10 through the terminals 22, which are located above the top of the baseboard 1. As a result, docking of the rechargeable battery terminal 11 of the robot cleaner 10 and the power terminal 22 of the power recharger 20 becomes unstable.
Thus, there exists a need to squarely support a recharging station against a wall such that a wall baseboard or other structure that extends away from a room wall can be compensated for.